Necklace
by YouSentMeFlying
Summary: "There's nothing in the way, nothing stopping us. This is the perfect night."


**:') finally, a new one shot. It took me a few weeks to finish this one, even though it's short as hell. Anyway, the middle was a little rushed since I have studying to do for my math midterm before tomorrow. My apologies. **

She listened to the placid chant of the birds around her. She could hear the wind murmur and whisper to her through the green Spring leaves, and the song '_Bullets' _by Data Romance expressed into her ears from the small speakers of her earbuds.

_You won't recognize yourself,_

_The things that you've done._

_And you're too cold to melt,_

_And you've come undone._

_I would give it all for you,_

_If I were so brave._

_But you pull me down,_

_When you make us drown._

_We're too lost to save._

She danced around in circles, her eyes closed to the night sky while her bare feet pounded against the damp grass that sprouted from the fresh dirt beneath her. She was content, smiling; her arms overextended out to let the cool breeze of the wind shudder around the skirt of her new dress peacefully.

_And I'd break bullets for you,_

_It'll take you out, take you out too._

_It'll take you out, take you out too,_

_Till there's nothing left here to rescue._

Just as her playlist skipped to the next song, she could hear a door open from behind her. She twirled around to see Eli standing in the doorway before her. Both of their faces lit of in unison.

"Imo," Eli smiled. "I'm glad you came. How long have you been out here?"

She shrugged her shoulders, slowly drawing her earbuds from her ears. "I've been out here for a while now. I got caught up in this beautiful weather!" Imogen was like the earth's puppy; she loved any type of weather, especially springtime – she loved when the leaves changed colours in the fall.

Imogen felt a burst of electrocuting excitement spread through her petite frame. Eli had asked her to come over tonight so he could tell her something important; he's been wanting to plan this evening for a while now. The couple had been dating each other for a few months and she was the best thing to ever happen to him. She was his seraph, and Eli was going to prove how much she meant to him. _She's his whole world. _

"Come inside, you look freezing." Eli outstretched his hand into the darkness, Imogen's soft hand capturing his, a cold tremble running up her spine at the contact.

Eli was Imogen's safe place – she felt as though she could never be hurt around him. He was like her force field, blocking out any danger to keep her safe. He would do anything for Imogen; he would die for her. He'd never let her fall from his grasp; never.

Imogen stepped through the door and shivered; she should have worn a coat or light jacket over here.

"You look beautiful," Eli complimented, pecking her cheek delicately, where a pink blush arose to the surface. As many times Eli has been an amazing boyfriend to her, she still couldn't get over it. Imogen has never been in any other relationships other than with Eli, so she didn't know how everything worked out at first. Eli's always been there to help her through this journey without judgment, and that's just one of the many things she loved about him.

The house was dark and silent, the only light to see being reflected from the seductive glow of newly lit candles in the living room. Eli lead her into the kitchenette where there was a table set for two; she had no idea what Eli had planned for tonight, but she couldn't wait until she could look back and remember this very night. She had a good feeling it was going to be one of the best nights of her life.

"Don't get too excited, it's not a full meal," Eli chuckled, scooting out one of the chairs for Imogen to sit.

"Darn, I was hoping you hired a butler and everything," she joked.

"But this night will be special for the both of us. I promise." He flashed her that famous smirk of his; the pit of Imogen's stomach grew warm in both anticipation and tenseness.

Now he was starting to freak her out; like he was going to propose to her or something – which she wouldn't be ready for at all. That couldn't be what he had planned, could it? If it was, how would she respond? 'Maybe someday'? Or 'after graduation'? She couldn't get so worked up over something that my not even be happening anytime soon.

"Call me a hopeless romantic, but…" Eli lifted the lid from the dessert tray and set it to the side with a clang. In the middle of the metal tray was a medium slice of double chocolate cheesecake with hot fudge showered on top. Imogen's heart fluttered excitedly as she glanced up at Eli's love-struck face. "It's the cake we shared together at Little Miss Steaks." He smiled at her, unsure if she liked the thought of it or not.

She giggled and trailed her index finger along the hot fudge. "From our first date!" she exclaimed happily as she licked her finger clean. Eli's never done anything this special for Clare or Julia while she was dating her; most guys couldn't even remember the first date, let alone what type of cake they shared together. "This is so amazing, Eli," she grinned. "You really went all out tonight, didn't you?"

"You haven't seen the half of it." he winked, sending more shivers down her spine. Something in the smoothness of Eli's voice made her warm and tingly on the inside; she couldn't explain it, but it made her feel worry-free. Senior year was supposed to be the best year of her life, and the only thing to make it better was Eli always being at her side no matter what.

He dug around in his blazer pocket, his hand grazing against the black velvet rectangle box. Hopefully Imogen didn't think he was rushing into things by popping an engagement ring out on her. As much as Eli cared for her, he didn't think that would be happening for a long while yet.

Eli reached across the table to place the black box into Imogen's awaiting hands with an excited smile. He wasn't very good at jewelry shopping for women, so he didn't quite know how fond of it Imogen would be; even though he found it to be quite lovely.

Hesitantly, Imogen cracked open the box to peek inside. She never liked surprises since she was a little girl, but she had to admit that what Eli was doing, she couldn't be more grateful to have a boyfriend as wonderful and caring as he was; as long as he didn't hire a clown to twist animal balloons, this night would be almost perfect. (Imogen had always been afraid of clowns. Something about their facial makeup and those big carnival shoes petrified the hell out of her.)

She lifted the top and gasped when the light shinned down on a piece of gold that was laced on a chain. Sparkling diamonds complimented the golden necklace, forming into a cursive, capitalized 'E'. Her fingers ran over the icy rim delicately, as if she were afraid she would damage it somehow. "What's the occasion?" she asked him under her breath, still shocked that Eli would go to this level after just a few months of dating each other.

Eli hoisted himself from his chair to stand behind Imogen's, kissing the top of her head like she was a young toddler. "Just to tell you how much you mean to me," he whispered, frowning nervously as he reached for the necklace to hook it behind her neck. "The 'E' stands for my first initial, to represent that you're my girl." He trailed the tip of his index finger along one of the small diamonds, Imogen craning her neck down to look at her new necklace. "Notice how these triangles overlap? It means harmony, new beginnings, love… unity." He dropped the necklace back to the base of her neck, taking her hand once again to kiss the palm of her hand; she was looking into his eyes now. "I love you, Imogen Moreno. More than any girl, any force in the world. You're the only thing I see, the only thing I want in my life."

xxx

The couple sat on the couch now, a glass of sparkling Champaign in their sealed hands as they stared at each other. Not a sound was made in the room, except for the second hand ticking on the father clock a foot away from the two. It was peaceful; all they needed right now to make them happy was each other – nothing could break them apart now. "I wasn't too sure about that necklace when I picked it out. But you make it look stunning." Eli nodded toward the diamond necklace that lay just above her large cleavage, taking another sip of his drink.

Imogen breathed lightly, reaching back to tug the elastic band from her hair, letting the hair waterfall stream down over her shoulders. She gazed at Eli and smiled lightly, grabbing his hand to intertwine their fingers together. She was so lucky to have Eli as her boyfriend; she couldn't imagine any other guy taking better care of her than he could. After tonight, she was beginning to tell convince herself that he might just be the one that she spends the rest of her life with. Was he the one? "I love you, Eli," she told him, her heart pounding against her ribcage.

Eli bent down to kiss her. It started out as gentle, but Imogen didn't let it stay that way. She couldn't really explain exactly what happened, but whatever it was, she felt like she was a torch flaming totally out of control. It wasn't like any other kiss they'd shared together, this was different. When their lips collided with one another, it was like the Fourth of July; firecrackers were being set off frantically.

Imogen needed to be touched, to feel loved – she couldn't keep living her life, wondering what it was like to take such risks. Or maybe the frustration that had been simmering inside her ever since Eli had first spoken to her finally exploded – and Eli was the one to be burned by it. Whatever the reason, Imogen was on fire, and she needed Eli to put that flame of desire – that blaze of passion – out.

She tugged at his shirt, muttering "take it off…" against his plump lips. With a low moan, he yanked it over his head. While he was doing that, Imogen pulled off her own purple dress and started tugging at her sports bra. She felt his eyes on her and looked up to meet his questioning gaze. "I want to do it with you, Eli," She said in almost a rush. "There's nothing in the way, nothing stopping us. This is the perfect night."

"You're sure?" Eli asked her, a bit surprised. He's been waiting for her to take action for so long, and he was finally getting what he wanted; he just didn't want to pressure her into doing something she wasn't ready for.

She nodded. "Of course. We love each other, don't we?"

"Okay, yeah, "he smiled, reaching for her to kiss her lips again. "I love you so much."

Imogen needed to be touched and loved and feel like she was the only girl in the world, and over the moon; she wanted to forget anything that's happened in the past. She wanted to let the true Imogen Moreno shine through, and share that side of her with Eli, someone she loved more than anything.

**Yay! This was originally going to have an M rating, and be continued on, but I figured it would be much more sweet and happy to end it here than anywhere else. Not many of my stories have happy endings, so I didn't want to add onto it and have it end with them breaking up. ;) **


End file.
